State Literary Awards 2014
At the ceremony the prestigious life time honorary award of “SAHITYARATNA” was conferred upon three distinguished literati - Prof. Wimal Dissanayake, Carl Muller and Teliwatte Joseph in recognition of their contribution to foster and secure the literature in Sri Lanka in Sinhala, English and Tamil languages respectively.
Norbet Ayagamage's 'Kala Nadee Gala Basie' received an award for the best Sinhala original novel in the year 2013. These awards were presented by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Many other chosen writers, poets and academics were given awards in recognition of their literary works of excellence in Sinhala, Tamil and English languages during the year 2013. The Awardees were chosen by an eminent panel of judges from a variety of categories such as short stories, poems, children’s literature, Drama, Prose Non - Fiction, Translations and Novels covering all three languages.
Cultural and the Arts Minister T. B. Ekanayake speaking at the occasion said that action has been taken to construct a centre where literati could do their creations in a quiet environment near the Mahaweli River in Kundasale.
The event was organized by the Culture and the Arts Ministry, Cultural Affairs Department and National Literature Sub-Committee. The State Literary Awards Festival is held annually to encourage literati to produce high standard creative literary words for the country. (KH)
